La véritable nature de l’indéfini cartésien

Revue de métaphysique et de morale, 2008-4, p. 501-513.

The distinction made by Descartes between the infinite and the indefinite is well-known and has spurred a great deal of commentary. We often err, however, concerning the true nature of the indefinite. The majority of interpreters, from the 17th Century until now, reduce the indefinite to the infinite in its kind, of which the kind would be extension, notably qualified as the infinite "in extension," as well as the "spatial," "negative," "potential," or "quantitative" infinite. Going against the grain of such an interpretation, this article shows that the Cartesian indefinite is not properly speaking either the infinite, or even the infinite in its kind, or the finite, and that its true nature is indetermination.